Journey to Italy - Napoli Promotion @ Passione Ristorante Italiano, KL

For the month of August and September 2019, Passione Ristorante Italiano brings guests on a culinary journey to Naples in Italy. Naples, also known as Napoli is a city steeped in history and culture, and their cuisine typically consists of fresh homegrown vegetables, sun-ripened tomatoes, cheese and seafood.

To start, we had the O purpo a'nzalata (RM49), an octopus salad with a mix of Mediterranean olives, crunchy fennel, diced potatoes and cherry tomatoes in a lemon oil dressing. A light, summery salad with tender slices of boiled octopus.

Hubby's favourite dish of the afternoon is the Rigatoni al ragu alla napoletana (RM34), short tube pasta with sausage and pork ribs stewed in tomato pulp sauce; so tender, they're falling off the bone. Wonderfully vibrant and full of flavour.

Naples is known as the birthplace of pizza, so it's only natural that the Neapolitan-style pizza gets featured on this promotional menu. A typical Neapolitan pizza must be made with San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella fior di latte. Chef Stefano keeps it authentic with the cheese and tomato, cooked in a wood-fired oven and finished with drops of pesto basil and fresh basil leaves. Amazingly good and simple! One of the best wood-fired oven pizzas in KL.

Pizza Regina Margherita (RM39)

The Napoli Promotion will run until 30 September 2019. Other noteworthy dishes on the menu include Cuoppo Napoletano (street food served in paper cone of potato croquettes with mozzarella and honey ham), Scialatielli all'Amalfitana (thick fettucine pasta made with milk and fresh basil from Amalfi cooked with seafood), Calamaro Imbuttunat (traditional Naples squid stew) and Torta Caprese (classic Naples chocolate cake with almond). Click here to view the menu for the two-month special promotion.

We also sampled several dishes from their regular a la carte menu. The Porchetta salad (RM25) is one salad I definitely wouldn't mind eating. The crunchy bits of roasted pork belly totally elevates the taste of this salad, giving texture and lots of flavours to the mixed garden salad with tomatoes, cucumber, radish and hazelnuts in honey mustard dressing.

The Passione board (RM79) features four types of cold cuts (spicy salume, mortadella, coppa and salame felino) and three types of cheese (montaggio, montasio, red wine pecorino). A lovely selection, great with a glass of wine.

Red or white wine, as well as Italian beer (Peroni) is available here.

Rich and creamy, what's not to love with the Ravioli di maiale in salsa di asparagi and pancetta (RM38)? The pork cheek is braised for several hours until tender, and then stuffed inside the homemade ravioli along with Grana Padano, and served with a flavorful cream sauce with pancetta and sauteed asparagus. LOVE this!

One of their signature dishes here is the Pork ribs al vino rosso (RM59), slow cooked pork ribs  served with red wine and gravy sauce, roasted potatoes and rocket salad. The pork ribs are first brined in salt, sugar and aromatics, then rubbed with a marinade of paprika, Cajun spice, garlic powder, black and white pepper. It is then pan seared before cooking sous vide for 13 hours til the meat is lovely and tender. The ribs are finished in the grill, to give it some colour and depth of flavour.

For dessert, we had the Cannoli al pistacchio (RM25), Italian pastries that originated from the island of Sicily.  The tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough  is filled with pistachio cream, and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Click here to view the a la carte menu.


Stay tuned to see which Italian city Passione will bring you to next for Oct & Nov 2019!


Serves Pork.

Opening times: Lunch 11:00am – 2:30pm; Dinner 6:00pm – 11:00pm. Closed every Tuesday.

Service: Good.

Location: Passione Ristorante Italiano, No 19, Jalan Radin Bagus 9, Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Street parking available)

Tel: 03-9055 3833

Website: http://www.passioneristorante.com/



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Passione Ristorante Italiano, Sri Petaling, KL

New on the Sri Petaling dining scene is Passione Ristorante Italiano, a casual restaurant bringing authentic Italian cuisine to the neighbourhood. Wood-fired pizzas, handmade pasta, imported cold cuts and cheese are some of the main highlights here.

Helming the kitchen here is Chef Stefano Criber, who strives to introduce Malaysian diners to a taste of artisanal Italian cooking, done the good-old fashioned way. Chef Stefano's cooking style and philosophy are inspired by his training at the prestigious Italian culinary school, Villa Santa Maria and also from his experience growing up in his hometown of Abruzzo, Italy.

The restaurant is split into two levels; the ground floor housing a swanky cocktail bar area and trattoria space, perfect for those seeking a lighter bite and drinks as well as the gorgeous wood-fired oven. Upstairs, you will find the cosy restaurant and semi-open kitchen, where you can watch some of the cooking action.

To start, we had the Arancini (crisp deep fried risotto balls with pork ragu, peas and mozzarella) and Mozzarella Filante cheese sticks served with marinara sauce. The kids loved the stretchy mozzarella sticks... so much fun to eat!

Complimentary crusty bread with tapenade and balsamic dip

This was followed by the Antipasto di mare, a refreshing seafood salad of octopus, squid, prawn, orange segments and fennel. We especially loved the grilled octopus, with a delicious char and lovely, smoky aroma.

As a true Italian, Chef Stefano insists on serving only fresh, handmade pasta hence they're made daily from scratch, using the best ingredients, at the restaurant. Here, you will find various type of pasta, including chitarra (a type of pasta originating from Chef Stefano's hometown), ravioli, fusilli, linguine, spaghetti, tagliatelle and maccheroni.We had the Seafood linguine (RM35); homemade linguine pasta with fresh mussels, shrimp, baby cuttlefish and squid. It was deliciously smooth and complemented perfectly with the fresh, plump seafood.

One of our favorite dishes of the afternoon was the Tagliata di pluma iberico al balsamico (RM79).  Looking deceptively simple, the grilled Pluma Iberico pork, drizzled with balsamic reduction was so juicy and tender with a melt-in-the-mouth texture akin to Wagyu. So so good! Served with an arugula salad and Grana Padano cheese shavings. Definitely a must-try!

We headed downstairs and watched as the affable Chef Stefano made our pizza and cooked it in the impressive wood-fired oven. According to Chef Stefano, the secret to the perfect pizza begins from the preparation process whereby tremendous attention to detail is required. He washes the dough with pure mineral water, a process which activates the flour's inherent enzymes to bring the flavours to life. Choice ingredients and toppings are then added before being baked under high heat in the brick ovens. The heat, which goes up to 400°C allows better heat distribution and caramelisation of ingredients which infuses a natural smoky aroma. We learnt that it only takes about 2-3 minutes to cook the pizza in this high heat.

We had the Pizza 3 salumi which comes with 3 types of cured Italian pork salami, leccino black olives, marinated eggplant and onions. Fantastic crust, a very tasty pizza indeed!

Gorgeous wood-fired oven

Ending our meal on a high, the parents had the signature dessert, tiramisu (RM24)... the fingers have been soaked in coffee and alcohol (sorry kids, none for you!) and layered with mascarpone cheese and crunchy chocolate while the kids had the Tortino al cioccolato con cuore fondente (RM28). The latter has a 17 minute cooking time... but it's well-worth the wait. The heavenly warm chocolate molten cake served with vanilla gelato was polished off (by the kids) in under 2 minutes. It was so good that they even wanted to lick the plate clean! :P

Cappuccino

For the full menu, please click here. 


Serves Pork.

Opening times: Lunch 11:00am – 2:30pm; Dinner 6:00pm – 11:00pm. Closed every Tuesday.

Service: Good.

Location: Passione Ristorante Italiano, No 19, Jalan Radin Bagus 9, Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Street parking available)

Tel: 03-9055 3833
Website: http://www.passioneristorante.com/



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Poppo Kanteen, Sri Petaling, KL: Nasi Lemak

Who doesn't love a good plate of nasi lemak?

Imagine fragrant, fluffy rice cooked in coconut milk, with sweet and spicy sambal, crunchy anchovies and a juicy, crispy piece of fried chicken. What's not to love?

We were recently in Sri Petaling to run some errands and decided to check out Poppo Kanteen there. Other than this outlet, they also have outlets at Taman Segar in Cheras, Pandan Indah and Puchong. The restaurants are pretty hard to miss as they're painted in a bright turquoise colour (Interesting fact: Poppo the owner of this place always used to wear a turquoise coloured dress when she was a canteen operator).

The signature dish here is the nasi lemak ayam goreng berempah (RM8.90). Served on a banana leaf, this had all the components of a winning dish. I enjoyed the fragrant rice, eaten with the well-balanced sweet, spicy sambal. The fried chicken was juicy and moist, with a lovely crispy skin. You also get half a fried hard boiled egg each as well as cucumber, ikan bilis and kacang and a piece of crispy cracker.

Hubby had the Nasi lemak beef rendang (RM9.90) which came with similar condiments to mine (the egg, sambal, crispy cracker, peanuts and ikan bilis) and the beef rendang was served in a separate bowl. We found it to be slightly sweet and quite saucy (we prefer thicker rendangs) and the beef was not tender enough. The fried chicken version was definitely miles better. Hubby also had the Poppo Cendol (RM5.90), which was decent enough.

There is both indoor and outdoor seating available.

Nasi Lemak selection / menu

Opening times: Sunday - Thursday 8.00am -12.00am; Friday, Saturday and Public Holiday Eve 8.00am - 1.00am.


Price: Total bill RM30.05 for 2 pax, including 2 drinks.

Location: Poppo Kanteen, No. 65, Jalan Radin Anum 1, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur. (Street parking available. RM1 per hour).

Tel: 03-9054 8923

GPS Coordinates: 3.067259, 101.690465


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